As we hold our breath to see how the Court will decide the fate of the ACA, now is a good time to remind ourselves of the importance of health care reform for women living with HIV and affected by HIV.

We must seize this opportunity to promote a truly science-based, holistic, HIV prevention strategy for young people in the U.S. and abroad. In the end, it is young people who hold the key to ending this epidemic. That’s why they should be at the center, not the periphery, of our programs and policies.

Weekly Sexual Health Round Up: Rate of new HIV infection among African-American women in some communities matches that of countries in sub-Saharan Africa; men more likely to die during extra-marital sex; porn industry reacts to condom mandates.

President Obama’s proposed budget, released last month, was reasonably true to his Administration’s commitment to working toward an AIDS-free generation. But a major disappointment is the proposed cut to the Ryan White Part D budget, the only Part of the program that serves the unique needs of women, children, youth and families–and the only part of the Program to take a hit.

In 2012, three years before the 2015 deadline the world set for itself to reduce preventable maternal deaths and new HIV infections, we must act more boldly than we have up until now. The global health community must work to bring family planning and HIV services together – and quickly – to save women’s lives.

People who participate in clinical trials take the enormous step of volunteering to test a product that may be useful and, sometimes, life-saving if it turns out to be effective. They play an irreplaceable role in research to prevent, treat, and sometimes cure illness – as well as to find other ways to improve people’s health and lives.